Babur's Gardens:  An Illustrated Introduction
Stephen Dale   
5 January, 2019          
​9:30 am - 11:00 am 

Zahir al-Din Muhammad Babur (1483-1530) founded the Mughal Empire of India in 1526.  Babur was a native of the Ferghanah Valley, the eastern region of modern day Uzbekistan that borders the Xinjiang region of China.  Since the early Han era, the Ferghanah Valley has been one of the principal routes for commerce between China and the West along the Silk Road. 

In this enclave, the Chinese also found the Heavenly or Blood-Sweating Horses (war horses) for combatting the nomads north of the Great Wall.  Babur regarded the geometrically precise Persian garden as his society’s most important social and cultural institution.  Within these pleasing environments, the Mughals found refuge, entertained, recited poetry, admired dancers and musicians, and planned military strategy.  Babur’s appreciation of these gardens reminds readers that the word “paradise” comes from the Persian term for an “enclosed garden.”
​

​Many thanks to Northwest China Council for their continuing technical support.
​Our educational program series has been developed in collaboration with PSU’s Institute for Asian Studies, and is free and open to the public.​  First Saturday PDX  current full season schedule and descriptions available HERE.  

View our regular monthly location by clicking on the address below for directions:  
Portland State University, Academic & Student Recreation Ctr (ASRC),  Room 230
1800 SW 6th Ave, Portland OR 97201
Excellent MAX and bus transportation is right by the venue; plan your Trimet trip HERE.   There is also a nearby parking structure at SW 6th and Harrison with an entrance on 6th Avenue is also available.
View PSU Parking info:  
https://www.pdx.edu/transportation/hourly-visitor-parking​​​